Thursday, November 13, 2008

Dallas collector Bucks Burnett back in record-store business, sortof

By Teresa Gubbins

DALLAS — Colorful figure and rock fanatic Bucks Burnett is back in the record-store business, sortof: On Saturday November 15, he's opening Earotica, a small booth located in a corner of vintage-clothing store Dolly Python where he'll sell CDs and some vinyl.

Record stores may be a dying breed, but given his low overhead as a renter in the Dolly Python space, Burnett feels optimistic he can make a go of it. He'll join other vendors who rent space at Dolly Python such as Bruce & Julie Webb, who own a gallery in Waxahachie, and Brian Green, a Fort Worth vendor who sells vintage toys.

"It’s really just a glorified booth but with the music business in the shape it's in, every square foot counts," Burnett says.

Trudi Hunter

From left: Chris Frantz, Bucks Burnett, Tina Weymouth, and Ian Hunter.

Old-timers will recall that, from 1991 to 1995, he had a tiny record store on Lower Greenville called 14 Records which specialized in vinyl and even-then-obsolete 8-tracks. Burnett has since been selling CDs on ebay and at record fairs. (He's also been hobnobbing with various aging rock stars such as the Talking Heads, which he references on his blog: "Just spent 2 weeks up north doing some archival work for my good friends Chris and Tina from Talking Heads. Went through about 40 boxes of truly amazing stuff, fell in love with the mid-70’s new wave movement all over again. We met Ian Hunter and his wife Trudy on July 29th in Danbury, Connecticut for a nice Italian lunch.")

Last summer, he initiated a multi-vendor flea market deal called About To Pop that showed some renewed interest for his wares.

There's an opening party on Saturday, from 6 to 10 p.m., where Burnett will offer "Free beer and overpriced dead formats." Those who want to hear his shmoozy stories can visit Dolly Python on Tuesdays and Fridays, when he's tentatively scheduled to keep hours at the store from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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